Empowers Equips Educates
To quote an author by the name of Howard Thurman: ‘Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive’
Wadzanai Mabuto CA(SA) Senior Lecturer at the Department of Accounting at UJ
A couple of months ago, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed. I double-clicked on Beyoncé’s profile just to find out how she was doing that day. Something caught my eye for the first time. Beyoncé has over 130 million followers, but she follows absolutely nobody. Beyoncé is famous for her musical creative flare; that is what she is known for! It was at this point that it dawned on me: Beyoncé does not spend her time listening to Beyoncé songs, she spends her time creating them! If you do a quick Wikipedia research on Beyoncé, you will find that it took many years of trial and error for her to come out like an overnight success. Through those years she found what sets her soul on fire and pursued it relentlessly!
There is something so attractive and mesmerising about someone who knows what they are about. The celebrities that have staying power are those that have spent time and energy investing in themselves and finding the magic that was put inside of them. Refining it and then releasing it to the world.
What is that one thing that makes you come alive? You have probably buried it deep inside you because you are now a grown-up and must act the part. For me, finding my magic involved a process of going down memory lane remembering what people said about me and/or to me. For instance, my Grade 7 teacher told my parents that I talked non-stop and that I had a creative eye. I started exploring these two avenues in my life and the more and more I honed into them, the more and more alive I became. And the more alive I became, the more relevant I became to those around me. I found my magic! It is talking and creating things! No one needs to inspire or motivate me to do these things. It oozes out of me! What makes you come alive? There is something that was uniquely packaged in all that is you. Your job is to find it and then live it.
Magic finder
- Journalise your thoughts − write down the things that come to mind on a daily basis as you get to know yourself more.
- Share your findings about yourself with others and see the impact it has on them. If you see them light up from hearing you speak, you are heading in the right direction!
- Stop focusing on what others are doing. If you happen to come across what they are doing, be inspired not intimidated by their success.
- Get into the habit of clapping for yourself. You are your greatest cheerleader!
